


Blizzard and snowdrift

by lwise2019



Series: Mikkel's Story [19]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:06:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lwise2019/pseuds/lwise2019
Summary: The team makes their way through the city in a blizzard, only to be stopped by a snowdrift.
Series: Mikkel's Story [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536739
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Blizzard and snowdrift

The blizzard raged around them, winds twisted by the broken buildings to strike them from one side and then another, so that sometimes they could see their path and other times they seemed to be buried in pure white snow. Tuuri's knuckles were white as she clutched the steering wheel, while Lalli slept the sleep of the exhausted in the seat beside her. Emil had braced himself beside Lalli's seat and was trying to help Tuuri steer by calling out when he saw obstacles to their right. Sigrun leaned against Lalli's seat, watching ahead and cursing the blizzard occasionally under her breath, while Reynir, behind Tuuri, was praying alternately to Odin and Thor.

Mikkel, behind all of them, leaned forward to ask Sigrun quietly, "Should we turn back?"

Equally quietly she answered, "We can't. You felt that big jolt -- that bridge or whatever you call it that Lalli sent us down -- it was breaking under the tank's weight even as we crossed. It won't hold us again." She sighed. "We've broken another bridge behind us." But Sigrun's natural high spirits could never be suppressed for long. "There are other bridges! Lots of bridges! And with winter coming on, in time we'll be able to drive across rivers if we want. In fact -- doesn't the sea freeze sometimes? We can drive to Sweden!"

Even in their current situation, Mikkel was cheered a little by her attitude. She was right. The sea _did_ sometimes freeze, and it was at least theoretically possible that in the deep winter -- if they survived that long -- they really could drive to Sweden.

But the problem for now was surviving this blizzard. They couldn't stop where they were, deep in the city and surrounded by buildings, for though few of the grosslings could venture out into a blizzard, _few_ did not mean _none_ and, given the number of grosslings likely to be lurking around them, the risk of an attack was simply too great. If they couldn't go back, then they had to go on.

And so they went on, scraping against a vehicle or a building now and then, but successfully staying on the route that Lalli had marked out for Tuuri on their map. The blizzard blew itself out over the next couple of hours, and they found themselves in a city transformed. In places the blizzard had built up drifts against the ruined buildings, in other places it had swept the roadway clear, and everywhere it had plastered snow against the buildings, concealing the marks of fire and decay.

Everyone relaxed just a bit once they could see where they were going, and Tuuri sped up a little, eager to reach their next camping spot. Mikkel was looking back into the tank, considering what to do about lunch, when the tank tilted upward and Sigrun shouted, "Stop stop stop! You'll get us stuck here!"

Mikkel turned to see the problem and was astonished to find that they confronted a drift that blocked the road from one side to the other and loomed higher than the tank itself. Sigrun was already jumping out of the tank and perforce everyone else followed except, of course, Lalli, who demonstrated a scout's ability to sleep through anything.

How powerful had the blizzard been here, Mikkel wondered. The drift hadn't been here the night before when Lalli scouted their route, so just how much snow had fallen? But there was no time for him to consider the question, for already Sigrun was talking to him.

"It's just a snowdrift! If I give you a shovel, how fast can you dig us through here, Mikkel?"

At least she recognized his strength and endurance, but even he could not do the impossible. "In a week," he guessed, looking at the mass of snow before him.

"What if I help you out?"

"Half a week." He wondered if they even had two shovels.

"Okay, let's not do that then."

Emil was studying the drift as well and proposed, "If we make a huge bonfire here, we can _melt_ the snow away in no time."

"I like the sound of that," Sigrun answered thoughtfully.

Mikkel shook his head. They didn't have enough wood for such a bonfire and though they could scavenge some from the surrounding buildings, that risked grossling attacks. No. They had to retreat and find another way around the drift.

At this point Lalli climbed wearily out of the tank, pausing to survey the drift from one side to the other. Mikkel thought his normally emotionless face showed a trace of shock at the sight. Seeing him, Sigrun turned to Tuuri, "Tuuri, I suspect your cousin did not think of the possibility of a snowstorm and forgot to scout us a backup route. Any thoughts?"

"He -- he has a plan. Always. See? He's figuring something out, right now. There's no way he forgot to think about the weather. I -- I'll ask him."

As Tuuri began an animated discussion with Lalli, Mikkel turned back to the snowdrift. How had the thing even formed? Lalli would not have directed them along this street if there had been an obstacle across it. Were they on the wrong street altogether? Had they gotten lost in the storm?

His thoughts were interrupted by the increasingly passionate Finnish discussion to his left. Tuuri was shaking Lalli, who had stopped answering her at all and simply endured the shaking and then covered his ears -- no, Mikkel thought, actually boxed his own ears -- and stood motionless, the picture of dismay as Tuuri now spoke to him apologetically. Mikkel was at a loss as to what to do about the situation, and Emil's only contribution was to grab a blanket from the tank and drape over Lalli's shoulders. As Lalli was not wearing his outer clothing, this was probably a good idea to keep him from freezing but perhaps not otherwise meaningful.

"Okay," Sigrun put in, "I don't know what _that_ was, but it wasn't helpful.'

"I'm so sorry," Tuuri answered miserably. "You ... were right. There's no plan. We can't go through here. I'm sorry! This was a mistake. Again, I'm so sorry!"

"I believe our only option is to go back," Mikkel put in.

"I _hate_ backtracking!" Sigrun objected. "I'm always ambushed by something!"

There wasn't much for Mikkel to say to that. They couldn't actually get back to the previous camp site, but they couldn't stay here either, blocked by the drift ahead and with buildings -- probably grossling-infested -- on two sides, and they couldn't simply strike out in the city at random. Their only hope was to backtrack and look for a defensible position close to their route. Perhaps there was a park, or an area that had burned to the ground. There had to be something! 

Mikkel shrugged his shoulders uneasily and the little polished stone hammer shifted. He wore it against his skin under all his clothing where it would not be seen when he pulled off his jacket, as he didn't want the others to think that he shared their superstitions. Now it had grown so cold from standing outside that it almost felt as if it were burning him. He put a hand to his chest as if to warm it and then took his hand away. He couldn't reach it, and anyway it would warm up as soon as he was back in the tank. He started that way at once.

Tuuri addressed Lalli resignedly while the others turned toward the tank, but Lalli answered abruptly, clearly insisting on something. The others paused. "Translation?" Sigrun asked.

"Ahh -- umm -- he says he could find another path, but I think he might be too tired to -- "

"Yes! Awesome! That's exactly what I like to hear! You have the correct attitude, little pipsqueak!" Sigrun slapped the small scout on the shoulder encouragingly, rocking him backwards. While Tuuri conveyed the message to Lalli, Mikkel stepped into the tank to gather Lalli's second set of outer garments and his rifle. He rather suspected that Sigrun in her enthusiasm would have sent him off unarmed and inadequately dressed, and that Lalli in his meek obedience would have gone. Lalli accepted his gear with a muted "Okay" and Mikkel returned to the tank.

"We've got plenty of day left," Sigrun announced to the others as they climbed into the tank, "let's put it to good use!"

As Tuuri struggled to turn the tank around without hitting anything too hard, the drift shuddered, a little snow falling from its crest. After a moment, one end of the drift jerked toward the tank, the snow breaking apart and falling in chunks. But the tank was moving away, and no one saw.


End file.
